Utah cornerback Clark Phillips III (8) celebrates a landing throughout sport in opposition to Washington State Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021 in Salt Lake Metropolis. Phillips is amongst a big contingent of SoCal gamers on the Utes’ roster. Shafkat Anowar, Deseret Information
Utah quarterback Cameron Rising pitches throughout observe for Rose Bowl sport in opposition to Ohio State at a area at Harbor School in Wilmington, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. Rising is amongst 25 gamers on Utah’s roster that calls California residence. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Information
California has lengthy been fertile recruiting floor for Utah’s soccer program.
There are 25 gamers on Utah’s roster that hail from the Golden State, together with stars like quarterback Cam Rising (Ventura) and cornerback Clark Phillips III (Lakewood).
“I really feel like we’re good examples of men that benefit from the Utah expertise,” Phillips stated. “We’re capable of inform guys, ‘It’s not what you assume.’ I had my very own set of opinions earlier than I set down on campus. They have been undoubtedly modified. As an illustration, I had by no means seen snow. I’m capable of inform California youngsters, ‘Hey, it’s not as dangerous as you assume.’”
“Utah has at all times recruited Cali nicely and has gotten quite a lot of nice soccer gamers,” Rising stated. “Quite a lot of them are enjoying on Sundays proper now. It’s good to be part of that group of Cali Utes.”
Whereas USC and UCLA are set to depart the Pac-12 in 2024, coach Kyle Whittingham is assured that the California pipeline will proceed to be productive for this system for years into the longer term.
“It’s actually in our recruiting footprint. We’ll at all times have a connection to Southern California, the proximity to Utah. It’s simply an hour-and-20-minute aircraft flight. I feel we’re at all times going to have a presence down right here,” the coach stated throughout Pac-12 media day in Los Angeles. “Is there going to be perhaps some Pac-10 video games which might be neutral-site video games that happen in Southern Cal? I feel we’ll determine some methods to at all times have a presence.
“We’ll proceed to recruit Southern California, clearly. If you happen to take a look at all of the areas that we do recruit, nearly all of gamers on our roster are from the Southern California space.”
The Utes have one sport in California this season — on Oct. 8 in opposition to UCLA on the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
Utah quarterback Cameron Rising pitches throughout observe for Rose Bowl sport in opposition to Ohio State at a area at Harbor School in Wilmington, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. Rising is amongst 25 gamers on Utah’s roster that calls California residence.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Information